In oil and gas development or operations, time is money. The longer it takes to perform a task the more money that is being spent. Currently in many high-pressure petroleum applications gate valves are used which require a turn wheel to open and/or close the gate valve. Workers in such fields may often open and close gate valves under high pressures of greater than 5,000 psi. Often the time required to open and/or close the gate valve is in the range of 7-60 minutes due to the number of turn wheel turns required to open and/or close the gate valve. The art field is in need of a valve that can be opened and/or closed in a shorter amount of time.
A valve capable of opening more quickly or with less effort would be beneficial in the art field. In general, a ball valve is capable of opening at a 90 degree turn. A Ninety (90) degree turn will take only a fraction of the number of turn wheel turns as compared to a gate valve. Consequently, the length of time required to open or close the valve is also greatly reduced. It would therefore be advantageous to use a ball valve which would have a quicker open and close time in high pressure petroleum applications.
Those skilled in the art will realize that ball valves are generally considered not to be functional for oil and gas operations due to the pressures in the conduits or lines, contaminants, and/or the like. The fluid produced from many geological formations contains minute, abrasive particles, such as sand, which lodge between the ball and seat and wear away the valve components. Over a period of time, the rotational ability of prior art valves may be reduced, thus requiring higher torque to turn such a valve. In some wells, where the production fluid is particularly sandy or corrosive, these ball valves may be particularly prone to a decrease in rotational ability.
While the use of an impactor turn wheel can increase the speed in which a ball valve is changed from the open position to the closed position and vice versa, such devices require extra strength of oilfield workers. Additionally, ball valves with turn wheels may be positioned in such a manner as to be inconvenient for an oilfield worker to reach. A third consideration, especially in high pressure applications, is that such pressure may pose a danger to workers such that they may want to have some distance between them and the ball valve in case of valve or pipe failure. This may be of concern in high pressure applications such as hydraulic fracturing or where gas is expanding rapidly as it escapes from underground.